838783 Pte. William Edward Hazen was born in Durham, Ontario, on June 10th, 1898. The youngest son of William and Mary Ann Hazen.
Claiming to have been born in 1897, William followed his older brother's example (838520, Pte. Robert Hazen) and attested to the 147th Battalion on February 6th, 1916.
Billeted locally over the winter until the unit left for centralized training in the spring of 1916. The 147th Battalion mobilized in Owen Sound in May to finalize the administration and organization of the unit, just prior to their departure for Camp Niagara later that month. As the conditions in this Camp were wanting the unit moved to the new training facility of Camp Borden in late June.
In September the unit received their orders to proceed overseas. While en route to Halifax there was an outbreak of diphtheria and they were detained in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for over a month. The unit finally sailed for Great Britain, onboard Titanic's sister ship, the SS Olympic, on November 14th 1916.
On January 1st, 1917, the 147th Battalion ceased to exist when it became the nucleus for the 8th Reserve Battalion, whose task it was to supply reinforcements to the 58th Battalion and the 4th C.M.R. Whilst William was assigned to the 4th C.M.R., His brother, 838720, Pte. Robert Henry Hazen, was transferred to the 119th Battalion, the 125th Battalion and then on to the 52nd Battalion. Despite a gun shot wound to the left leg in August 1918, Robert survived the war.
During his training in England, William developed appendicitis, in March of 1917, and was further hospitalized in April with influenza (or pnuemonia, depending on which evaluation record is consulted). At one point, on March 22nd, during his treatment for appendicitis, William's temperature reached 104.8°F, or 40.4°C. Due to these medical conditions William wasn't taken on strength of the 4th C.M.R. until October 6th, 1917, though he was immediately attached to the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Centre to undergo further training. He finally joined the 4th C.M.R., in the field, on November 3rd, while the unit was in reserve at Tay Camp after Passchendaele.
Serving through the winter and through the Battle of Amiens, William received a shrapnel wound to his left forearm on August 28th, 1918, during the Battle of Arras. Evacuated through the medical system, from Etaples to Manchester, England, William was further treated at Princess Patricia's Hospital in Bexhill and finally discharged, after 122 days hospitalization, in early December, 1918. As such he did not rejoin his unit.
Transferred to the 3rd Reserve Battalion, 838758 Private William Edward Hazen returned to Canada, in January 1919, on the Aquitania via Halifax, and was struck off strength of the Canadian Expeditionary Force on February 19th, 1919. Returning to Grey County, Ontario, William married Katherine McAurthur on May 19th, 1920.
Credit and many thanks go George Auer for the above biography.